Marketplace

Monday, January 27, 2014

I'm quite satisfied with the layout rebuilding process. Tracks are in the mail with other goodies, peninsula benchwork is now in place and we only need to modify Canardière and 1st Avenue recessed benchwork. Also, we again streamlined the track plan. Simpler is better...

I recently stumbled upon a nice Facebook group (yeah, you know how I hate that LifeInvader thing) featuring vintage pictures of Limoilou. Wow! Many billboards from the 70s, most major roads and buildings depicted. Better, 3 views of Lairet Station in its glory! I already made a CAD plan of it and I'm ready to build it as soon as possible.

Louis-Marie tweaked FastTrack turnout controls to make them work in pair for crossover. That guy will always surprised me!

Also, the five RS18/10 project is going well. I try to work about 1 to 2 hours per day on it. It's tedious repetitive work. I don't think I'll complete them before spring. On the other end, the Bachmann GP9 have been fully CNRized. Only the cabs need some improvement. I'm confident they will be hitting the rail in March. Honestly, I really loved working with the Bachmann shell. Details are fairly decent and parts are easy to disassembled and modify. I really like what that company is doing with its entry-level models, great kitbashing stuff.

The next weekends are gonna be crazy with a lot of track work to do and roadbed modification. I'll have to quickly build Canardière and 1st avenue overpasses. They are crucial elements to be done before gluing down the track.

Our troups are motivated to build a "museum-quality" layout, that's a good thing! No more fiberboard land!!! Welcome scenery!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

A new and
final version of the track plan was prepared last week after a lot of
discussions between Jérôme and me. At his suggestion, we simplified the track
arrangement at Bell’s Road and St. Malo to reflect better the prototype. This
also means the signal bridge with be prototypically placed on CPR mainline and
not CNR.

Also, we
decided to remove most of the double track mainline. It was not only
unprototypical, but also more or less useful to run the layout. In fact, it
gives us more room for scenery and free us from a hard to reach turnout near
the closet (behind Bell’s Road peninsula). The compromise was to connect the
yard lead after 1st Avenue overpass to have enough room to switch
without fouling the main (which happens on the prototype because it’s the end
of the line and passenger trains have their own track). Working out the geometry
of 1st Avenue’s twin girder bridges with their curved track isn’t
easy but should work fine.

All in all,
the layout has now only 20 turnouts, which is a good thing. I took a time to
check up Joe Fugate’s formulas to evaluate a layout’s potential. It looks
promising. However, these formulas seem to be mainly designed for large club
layout with crazy working schedule and not for a typical shelf layout. These
big layouts always seem fantastic, but at some point, they feel like playing a
video game simulation instead of a modelling project. Definitely not for me!

Jérôme also designed the new railway signals arrangement according to the prototype.

The scenery
was also finalized with most buildings finding their location. It’s not cast in
concrete, but at least gives us some ideas how things will work together. I
made a mock up out of foam board to represent Natrel dairy plant (ex-Coca-Cola
bottling works) on 1st Avenue. I’m quite satisfied with the result.
Proportions are good and the scene seems to come together perfectly. I also
made a printer paper model of a typical Shawinigan Power electric pylon. These
are staples of old electric line found along railway tracks in Quebec City and
Three Rivers areas. Next club session, I’ll mock up the Canardière’s Road
scene. Both scenes will require slight benchwork modification. I honestly don’t
expect to run trains in Hedley-Junction in the near future. Anyway, we still
have to decide if we will use PECO or Atlas Code 83 flextracks. Atlas is much
easier to use but not perfectly compatible with PECO. It’s a shame Code 83 isn’t
as standardized as is the now obsolete Code 100.

The scene near Dufferin-Montmorency Expressway is also completed. The small town house is an exact replica of the sole surviving working class cottage of Hedleyville - a village destroyed to make room for Limoilou Yard circa 1905).

By the way,
I received my four Atlas RS11 locomotives and stripped their paint yesterday. I’m
now ready to bash them into RS10/RS18. I’m still wondering if I’ll use my fifth
one (Atlas-Kato) to make another one… I’ll see.

The GP9 are
also almost completed before painting. I only need to add small details like
cab sunshade, Sinclair antenna, new brake wheel housings and lift rings. Hope
my order will come soon.

About The Club

Our layout is about capturing small-time branchline railroading in Eastern Canada during the early 80s. Built by three modellers, this HO layout is mainly dedicated to the Old Capital former CN Murray Bay Subdivision linking together Quebec City, Montmorency & Charlevoix counties. We also share an interest in its former constituant railways including Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Quebec Railway Light & Power Co. (QRL&PCo).

The original founding crew, still in active service since February 2007, is made of Louis-Marie Huot (Provincial Government Official), Matthieu Lachance (Architect, O.A.Q.) and Jérôme Langlois-Lavoie (real-life Locomotive Engineer). Many fellow "brakemen" assist the group on an irregular basis.

A special thanks goes to the late Mr. Jean-Pierre Veilleux (†2016) who was a precious source of historic facts and a dedicated railfan since the early 50s onward.